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MEMORIAL ADDRESS 



HON. SAMUEL PASCO, 



OF FLORIDA. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



HON. EDWARD C. WALTHALL 

(Late a Senator from the State of Mississippi), 



DKr.n-KKEI) IN riTK 



SF.NATE OF THE UNITIil) STATl-S. 



Al A Y 2 6, 1 8 9 S . 



WAsiiiNaToisr. 

1898. 



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68539 



MEMORIAL ADDRLSS UPON THE LIFE AM) CIIAK'AOTKR 
OF HON. EDWARD C. WAi;ni\LL. 



Mr. PASCO. Mr. President, on the 24tli of March ]a-;L onr l.ito 
aosociate, Edwakd Cauy Walthall, united witU his brother 
Senators in the memorial services lield in this Chamber on tho 
death of the late Senator Isham a. Harris, of Tennessee, and was 
among those who addressed the Senate on that occasion. Two 
weeks later, on tho Tth of April, similar services were held in 
memory of his former colleague, James Z. George. Senator 
Walthall offered appropriate resolutions expressing the regret 
and sorrow of the Senate at the death of the late Senator and tlio 
condolence of the Senate w'th the family of the deceased and tho 
people of Mississippi in their bereavement, and delivered an ad- 
dress which will no doubt be preserved among the historic archives 
of that great State. These two distinguished sons were long asso- 
ciated together in public service, and the recollections and views 
and opinions of tho survivor have a special value for this reason. 
But theoccasionAvillal ways beremembered with peculiarinterest 
by Senator Walthall's immediate friends in tiio Senate, because 
it was the last time he met with us here. He had been in a low 
state of health during the latter part of the winter, and for many 
weeks was absent from his accustomed seat. Through great care 
:J and attention he got over the attack, and when con\-alescing was 
'^ advised to seek rest from his public duties. He was unwilling to 
. do so, and believed that his strength would be gradually restored 
if he did not overtax himself. He resumed his work in the Senate 
and set his mind upon delivering the two addresses I have referred 
to. We hoped that when these duties were discharged he would 
spare himself and grow stronger as the spring advanced. 

None of us realized when he asked at tho close of the memorial 
services that the resolutions of the State legislature and of tho 
supreme court of Mississippi in memory of Senator George be in- 
cluded with the Senate proceedings that his voice would never 
again be heard in the Senate. But his last adjournment had come. 
When we next met he was confined to his bed, and never again 
arose. Two weeks after the close of the memorial services, at 
about the same hour of the day, he crossed the dark river and left 
earth's scenes behind him. 

My personal acquaintance with Senator Walthall commenced 
after my election to the Senate in 1887. But I had often seen him 
before then, when we were both engagedin the military serviceof 
the Confederate States during the late war, and I thus became fa- 
miliar with his military career during some of the years that that 
terrible struggle continued. Tiie regiment to wli'ich I belonged 
joined the Western army in the siimmer of 1862, and accompanied 
S39S S 



General Bragg in his famous march through Tennessee and Ken- 
ti^.ckj-. Walthall was in that campaign as colonel of the Twenty- 
ninth Mississippi in Chalmers's Brigade, and his regiment sufifered 
severely at Munfordville. The Mississippi and Florida troops 
were afterwards engaged near one another at Perry ville, and later 
in other great battles of the Western armies, and his face and form 
were familiar to all the old veterans who marched and fought in 
the Army of Tennessee. It was soon after this Kentucky campaign 
that, in recognition of his distinguished services, he was promoted 
to the rank of brigadier-general. 

When 1 entered the Senate, it was my good fortiine to be 
assigned to a seat near him. There was much in the history of 
the past to draw us together; our views were alike on many sub- 
jects. Our closer contact increased the admiration and regard I 
had long cherished for him. Though he never volunteered any 
aid, I felt the influence of his experience and sound judgment and 
example in reaching my own conclusions and determining my own 
action; and an acquaintance was formed which ripened, as the 
years passed, into intimacy and friendship, the recollections of 
which will always be revived with pleasure and satisfaction as long 
as life lasts. 

I shall not attempt in this brief and hastily prepared sketch to 
do more than give a mere outline of his career. When Missis- 
sippi i)assed her ordinance of secession January 9, 1861, he was a 
resident of Coffeeviile, and was serving his second term as dis- 
trict attorney of his judicial district. He was about 30 years of 
age, well connected, popular with his people, of engaging man- 
ners, and with every promise of a bright future before him. In 
his profession he had already established a reputation as a sound 
adviser and a fearless and successful advocate. The war soon 
followed, and Walthall resigned his office and entered the mili- 
tary service of the Confederacy in the early spring. He first 
served as a lieutenant in the Fifteenth Mississippi and was soon 
made lieutenant-colonel. Other promotions followed his brilliant 
career, until he became a major-general in 1864, and those who 
are familiar with the inner history of the closing months of the 
Confederacy tell us that still higher honors were before him if the 
struggle had been much longer continued. 

His services were especially conspicuous on many occasions in 
resisting the tide of defeat and holding back overwhelming num- 
bers until a successful retreat was practicable, as at Fishing 
Creek or Mill Springs, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. 
After the last-named engagement T was separated from my com- 
mand by the fortunes of war, but I have been informed upon high 
authority that when General Hood fell back from Nashville, in 
December, 1864, General Walthall was selected at the request 
of General Forrest to aid him in covering the retreat. This he 
successfully accomplished with a picked body of infantrj', and he 
was the last to cross the Tennessee River. 

When the banner of the Confederacy was furled and the terms 
of peace had been accepted, the soldiers returned to their homes 
and General Walthall, like the other great leaders of the South, 
went quietly back to his State and resumed the duties and accepted 
the obligations of private citizenship. For twenty years he con- 
tinued the practice of law, first at his old residence in Coffeeviile 
until 1871, and later at Grenada, winning his way to the very front 
of his profession and gaining its highest rewards. 
3398 



But it was not easy to discharge the duties of citizenship in the 
States which had formed the Southern Confederacy durinpr the 
years immediately succeeding the war. Tlie plan of reconstruc- 
tion inaugurated by the Executive in 1805 was accepted by the 
people; they returned to tlieir usual vocations, and peace and 
order were gradually restored; but before the new State govern- 
ments were fully organized, the plans of the Executive were over- 
thrown by the legislative authority and the newly enfranchised 
freedman became a potent political factor under the second recon- 
struction. Years of strife, confusion, corruption, and misgovem- 
ment followed. They were hard years for the old inhabitants of 
the States which had been identified with the Southern cause. No 
other teacher than experience can enable one to form a correct 
idea of the trials and difficulties and perplexities of those days. 
In sections of country, as in many of the counties of Mississippi, 
where the white people were in a large minority, the conditions 
were aggravated. It was a contest for the preservation of our civ- 
ilization, and in the end we regained control of our States because 
here and there were found such leaders as Wai.thalt. and (leorge, 
his old colleague, with wisdom and prudence and determination 
to take advantage of suitable opportunities as from time to time 
they were presented. 

When, as the work of restoration progressed, these representa- 
tive men were sent by their States and districts to this Capitol, 
there were many who declared that the war had been a failure, 
that those who had once been in arms against the Government 
could not be trusted to legislate for its maintenance, and that 
their admission to seats in the Senate and House and to other high 
places threatened the permanence of the Union. When Wal- 
thall entered the Senate more than one-fourth of its membership 
was made up of those who had filled important positions in the 
Southern Confederacy, military and civil, and one in whose mind 
the recollections and prejudices of the past still lingered might 
naturally fall into the error of supposing that this was an element 
of weakness in the body politic. But this personal contact of 
Senators and Representatives who were on different sides during 
the civil war has been a potent influence in bringing the sections 
into closer and more friendly relations, and whatever fears may 
have been entertained of the effects of the return of the Southern 
leaders to place and power in the National Government, they have 
long since been dissipated. 

It is worthy of mention that about the time of Walthall's 
death our dift"erences with Spain developed into actual war: and 
if any bitterness or heartburnings still existed between the people 
of the North and the South, they were banished and forgotten in 
the presence of a foreign foe. and all were ready to unite together 
to carry the flag of our country to victory. How the heart of this 
patriotic man would have rejoiced had he been spared to us a few 
davs longer to hear the message of the President nominating Lee 
and Wheeler among the generals of the army to lead soldiers of 
all sections of a reunited country against the armies of Spain and 
to see their unanimous confirmation without reference to party 
lines or to the old strife which was fought to a finish more than 
thirty years ago. 

Although General Walthall was always ready to serve his 
people and his party during the years that he jiracticed his pro- 
fession after the war, and on several occasions served as chairman 

8398 



6 

of the Mississippi State delegation in the Democratic national 
convention, he held no public ofiace till he became a member of 
the Senate March 13, 1885. 

The Democratic party had gained a national victory in the cam- 
paign of 1884, and the newly elected President, in recognition of 
the^generons support he had received from the South, desired the 
assistance of able and prominent men from that section to assist 
him in his Cabinet. He very naturally turned to Lamar, who 
was conspicuous among the great leaders on the Democratic side 
of the Senate for his learning, his eloquence, his sound judgment, 
his intimate knowledge of public affairs, and his widespread pop- 
ularity, not in Mississippi alone, but throughout the entire South. 
Besides this, the conservative course he had pursued as a Senator 
and his courage in maintaining his convictions in the face of 
public opposition had won the confidence and admiration of many 
in other parts of the country besides his own. 

When he became Secretary of the Interior, Governor Lowry 
did himself great credit and satisfied the wishes and desires of the 
people of his State by selecting Walthall to fill the vacant chair, 
and Mississippi, through her legislature, thrice ratified this action 
by successive elections whenever it was necessary to renev.^ his 
credentials, his last election extending his term to March 4. 1901. 
In January, 1894, he had suffered from a serious illness. His re- 
covery was slow and his condition unsatisfactory. He required 
change and rest from the engrossing duties of his office. His 
friends urged him to secure the desired release from confinement 
and responsibility by obtaining a prolonged leave of absence, 
which the Senate would readily have granted him. 

Tiiere was much to make this advice acceptable, for he had won 
his way to the chairmanship of the Committee on Military Affairs, 
and a "resignation meant a surrender of his committee appoint- 
ments and some of the advantages which are connected with con- 
tinuous service in the Senate; but he had a high conception of 
what was due to his people and to the country. He felt that his 
State was entitled to the service of two Senators and that his per- 
sonal wishes and interests ought not to control his action. If the 
condition of his health prevented him from rendering his portion 
of the service due from or belonging to his State for an indefinite 
period, he felt that he should ask the legislature to select anotlier 
to assume the duties and responsibilities of the office. As the re- 
gialt of this action, Mr. McLaurin, now governor of the State, was 
chosen to fill the vacancy and served to the end of that term. On 
the 4th of March of the following year, 1895, the new term com- 
menced, to which Walthall had already been elected prior to his 
resignation, and his old associates welcomed him back to the Sen- 
ate, gratified that his restored health permitted him to resume his 
labors and duties. 

Before Walthall had completed half of his first term the 
President appointed Secretary Lamar to fill a vacancy in the Su- 
preme Court. Opposition arose to his confirmation because of his 
connection with the Confederate cause, and it developed so much 
strength that sei'ious apprehension was felt by his friends that he 
might be defeated on the final vote. A warm friendship had long 
existed between these two distinguished men, and Walthall 
felt that the services of Lamar were so valuable to the country 
that they .should be continued, even if the confirmation failed. 
This feeling, and his entire unselfishness, lead to an interesting 

K08 



incident whicli lias been communicated to nie by a near relative 
of Justice Lamar who occupies a prominent position in the State 
■which I have the honor in part to represent. He has given it to 
me in the following language: 

V71u1g matters were iu this uncertain state, Mr. Lamar received a most 
striking aud gratifying evidence of unselfish friendship from Senator Wai.- 
TiiALi.. General Wai.thalt. had implored Mr. Lamar not to Lave tlie Sen- 
ate and accept a Cabinet po.sition, although it was more tlian likely that Iho 
General would be his successor. He now thought that ^Iv. Lamar would bo 
the most useful man to the State and to the South that could be sent to tho 
Senate, believing that he had so proven while a member of that body. Ho 
feared that the opposition to Mr. Lamar's confirmation would succeed, and, 
so fearing, thought that the State legislature should make him a Senator 
again, both foi- his pers<3nal vindication and for the goo;l of the State. 

It was his intention to bring this about by resigning his own seat in order 
to create a vacancy. This intention he communicutt^l to ;\Ir. Muldrow, tho 
Assistant Secretary- The fact was stated by Mr. Muldrow to Mr. i^amar 
while the action of tho Senate was still in suspense, and Mr. Lamar replied: 
" Sir, before I would permit Walthalf, to do that I would go upon tho 
streets of Washington and break rock for a living." 

So generous a rivalry in renunciation for the sake of friondshiii is not 
often encountered in these days of sellish office seeking. 

Senator Walthall enjoj'ed the entire confidence of the Senate. 
He was seldom absent from his seat either in tlic committee room 
or in this Chamber, He was diligent in looldng after the interests 
of his people as they were affected bj' the legislation pending here. 
He did not often participate at length in the debates of the Senate, 
but when he spoke his words had great weight and he always had 
an attentive audience. But thoug-li he was not a frequent debater, 
few Senators were more successful with the measures they took 
in hand or exercised a greater influence upon the legislation before 
this body. His jitdgment was sound; he kept up with the current 
events of the country, and he was a safe and prudent counselor. 
No Senator on either side of the Chamber was more generally 
admired and beloved, and his death has left a void that will not 
be soon filled. 

But the sorrow and mourning has not been confined to his fam- 
ily, nor to the circle of relatives and friends wlio were near to 
him, nor to the Senate, nor to the city of Washington. The great 
State of Mississippi laments the loss of a distinguished son. who 
had served her long and faithfully, in peace aud in war, tinder 
the dark shadows of the period of reconstruction and in the hap- 
pier days that followed her redemption. In his lifetime she trusted 
him and showered upon him her highest honors, and the news of 
his death brought forth expressions of grief and regret from all 
classes of her people. 

It was my privilege to serve upon the committee appointed to 
accompany his remains to their last resting place at Holly Springs, 
the home of his early da.ys. Thotisands had already gathered 
there from near and far in the early morning when our train 
reached the city. The cadets from the State Agricultural College 
served as a guard of honor and conveyed the body to tho church 
where he used to worship with his parents; and in the afternoon 
the funeral services were there condxtcted in the presence of a 
vast gathering of mourners. 

The loving "wife was there who had accompanied him in many 
of his marches and campaigns during the war, nur.>ed liim when 
wounded, cared for him when .sick, and added to his happiness 
during the years of their wedded life. Relatives and friends and 
old neighbors, political associates, and public oflS.cials had all 

o398 



8 

gathered together to paj' the last tribute of respect to his memory. 
Floral decorations in beauty and profusion had been sent from 
all parts of the State and were heaped around the casket and the 
altar. As the services closed at the church an organized body of 
battle-scarred veterans who had served under him during the late 
war came forward and each taking one of these floral tributes, 
carried them in their procession to the cemeterj', where they were 
appropriately arranged in the family lot, and there, amid the fra- 
grant flowers of spring, surrounded by a vast concourse of the 
people among whom he had lived, we laid him to rest in the bosom 
of the State he loved so well. There may he repose in peace till 
the morning of the resurrection. 

3398 

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